Autotoboggan



Dec. 29,1925. 1,567,776

G A. WALKER AUTO TOBOGGAN Filed August 13,

1923 2 SheetsSheet 1 7 v r v III/111111!!!ll/lllI/lI/IlI/llll/I I INVENTOR. Geo/ye A VVa/Ielf. B Y 7.

ATTORNEY.

Dec. 29 1925.

G. A. WALKER AUTO TOBOGGAN Filed August 13 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 BY Geo/yell Mil/I517? G3 ATTORNEY.

Patented Dec. 29, 1925.

UNITED. STATES 1,567,776 PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE ALEXANDER WALKER, OF ARLINGTONyN jEW JERSEY.

AUTOTOBOGGAN.

Application filed August 13, 1923. Serial No. 657,062.

To all whom it may concern:

,Be it known that I, GEORGE ALEXANDER XVALKER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Arlington, in the county of Hud son and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Autotoboggans, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates-to screw propelled vehicles and more particularly to an autotoboggan wherein the motive is imparted to a pair ofdrums which engage the snow or.

ice in propelling the vehicle.

One of the objects of my invention is to provide an autotoboggan wherein the motor driven drums are freely supported rearwardly of the sleds or runners including provision for constantly maintaining the said drums in engagement with the ground and preventing any side thrust-of the paral lel propellers or rotatable drums while the 1 my invention that they may embody the same in the various modifications in structure and relation contemplated, drawings depicting a preferred form have been annexed as a part. of this disclosure and in such drawings, similar reference characters denote corresponding parts throughout all the views, of which, i

.Figure 1 is a side view of the machine.

Figure 2 is a sectional view through the.

gearing showing the relation with the driven drum.

Figure 3 is a sectional view through the machine taken substantially on the line 33 of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a sectional view of an end shaft mounting for the drums.

Figure 5 is a detailed view of the steering arrangement for the sleds or runners.

Figure 6 is an end view of one of the Y steering runners.

Referring now to the drawings, wherein like reference characters designate correenable others skilled in the art to sponding parts throughout the several views, .5 designates the engine supporting frame, supported in suitable front and rear bearings 6, said frame being provided with suitable clamps 7, 8, and supporting the motor 9, of any suitable type, for driving the mechanism subsequently to be referred to. The steering column 10 carried by a bracket 11 mounted on one of the sleds or.

flexible runners 12, is adapted torotate the steering sprocket l3 and the pulley 14, the

free ends of said pulley being connected to a cross link 15, suitably mounted on the top'of the sled or runner and below the bearings 6. I

7 Each runner is somewhat V shaped as indicated at 17 preferably at a point below the greatest weight of the machine or in other words, below the engine or motor so as tofacilitate the steering of the 2 machine. The front of the sled or. runners are slightly curved as shown at 18, and are preferably of metal so as to properly support the weight of the mechanism, particularly the motor and the frame including th'e'seat 19 for the operator. The bearing 6 or the frame permits of sufiicient play or longitudinal movement of the respective runners relativeto the said frame so as to prevent the buckling or breaking of said runners when traversing uneven or irregu lar ground.

A gear box 20 supporting a driving shaft 21, on which a tooth gear 22 is mounted,

is positioned rearwardly of the sleds or run ners, said shaft having a. sprocket 23 exteriorly of the gear box and operable by the sprocket chain 2% trained over a suit able gear in the crank case 25 of the engine.

Theshaft 21 is provided with suitable bearings 25 26, as clearly shown by Figure 2 of the drawings. The toothed gear 22 is in mesh with a gear 27 keyed on a driven shaft 28 also mounted in the gear box. A gear casing 29, 3O encases the ends of the shaft 28, 1 "the latter being provided with inner bear- .ings 31, 32 adjacent the gear 27.

On the ends of the shaft 28, bevel gears 33, 34 are mounted and inwardly disposed of said last mentioned gears are further end bearings 33, 34. which are adapted to offset the radial and end thrust of the load of the gearing. The respective bevel gears 33, 34k, are in mesh with the bevel gears 35, 36, keyed on the 'longitu'dinalparallel shafts 38, 39, ex-

tending, through the respective gear casings 29, 30. Each of the shafts last mentioned,

are provided with end thrust bearings 40, 41, to permit of the free movement of the shaft.

It will be observed that the sleds or runners are of a length to support the motor and the gearings and that the parallel shafts 38, 39, extend for a considerable distance rearwardly of the runners and support a pair of drums 42, 43 keyed thereto and held by the locking nut 44. The spirals or traction lugs 45 on the cylinders or drums are tapered at each end so that when assembled, the drum is in the form of a spiral screw, the depth of which is suiiicient to be in constant engagement with the Snow or ice in propelling the machine. It will be observed that the shafts 38 and 39 are geared so as to rotate toward each other and consequently the thrust will be directed to the center of the machine.

In order to compensate for the irregularities of the ground traversed and to absorb any shocks or vibrations incident to the travel of the machine and particularly to the traction drums, the ends of the shafts 38, 39 are connected by a cross spindle con-v necting rod 46, having suitable bearings 47 through which the respective shafts extend. The single connecting rod 46 is also provided with a bearing yoke 48 disposed at each side of the ends of the shafts 38, 39, having adjustable center screws 50 so that the bearings will compensate for any side thrust lncident to the traction screws and to the rear of the machine while the same is operating over uneven surfaces and on roughroads.

Loosely journalled foroscillation with re? spect to the gear casing, I have provided a Y-shaped frame 50 extending rearwardly between the drums. Attached to the Y- frame are parallel, vertical plates 51" which support a cross head and bushing 52. A spring bolt coupling 53 is loosely mounted on a horizontal shaft-53 on the extensions of the gear casing 20. A vertical rod 54hava heavy resilient spring 5.5, extends through the cross head bushing and con nected at its lower end to the coupling 53. ()n the threaded upper end of the rod a retaining bolt 56 bears against the upper end of the spring Attached to the Y-frame are the leaf springs 56, secured by the bolt 57, the rear end of the leaf springs being attached to the cross spindle connecting rod 4-6 as clearly shown by Figure 2 of the. drawings. It will thus be seen that any vertical motion imparted to the drums and the con necting rod 46 will act against the resistance of the spring which tends to maintain the drums in constant engagement with the ground being traversed. In order to further compensate for the vertical movement of the drums and the shaft 38, 39, I have provided a pair of the outwardly curved arms 58, 59, which are connected at their rearward ends by the bolt 60 to the leaf spring 56 and rearwardly of the angle plate, the forward ends of the arms being in turn connected by a short bolt 62 extending through the flanges 61 of the sleds or runners and into the gear casings 29, 30 respectively. It will thus be seen from this construction that not only does this mechanism compensate for any vertical or lateral movement but that the leaf springs and the coil spring 55 permits of the movement of either of the drums 43 as when passing over the irregular ground. Under normal circumstances and when travelling on roads covered with deep snow, the traction lugs or screws dig sufficiently into the ice or snow to give the desired forward propulsion and the proper speed may be maintained depending upon the motor and the character ofgearing utilized.

Vhile I have illustrated and described my invention with some degree of particularity, I realize that in practice various alterations therein may be made. I therefore reserve the right and privilege of changing the form of the details of construction or otherwise altering the arrangement of. the

correlated parts without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by United States Letters Patent is:

1. In a, motor driven sleigh, a pair of runners, a chassis mounted on said runners, a motor, gearing operable from the HlQtOI', a gear casing, a driven shaft, gearing on t e driven shaft, a pair of longitudinal Shafts and propellers mounted thereon, gearin'gon the longitudinal shaft meshing with the gearing on the driven shaft, a transverse connecting spindle between the. ends of the parallel shafts and a longitudinal, flexible element between the propellers connecting the gear casing with the said spindle.

2. In a motor driven sleigh, a pair of run ners, a chassis mounted on the 'saidrunners, a motor, gearing operable from the motor, a gear casing, a driven shaft, gearing on the driven shaft, a pair of longitudinal shafts and propellers operable toward each other mounted on the longitudinal shafts, a trans verse connecting spindle having bearings at the ends of the longitudinal shafts, a resilient longitudinal spring and connecting plates attached to the gear casing, one end of said resilient spring being attached to the spindle between the said propellers.

3. In a motor driven sleigh, a pair of runners, a chassis mounted on the runners, a motor supported on the chassis, gearing operable from the motor, a gear casing, a

driven shaft, gearing on the ends of'said driven. shaft, a pair of longitudinal and parallel shafts and gearing therefor operable from the driven shaft, propellers on the parallel shafts operable toward each other, angle plates connected to the gear casing, a bushing and a rod extending upwardly therethrough carried by the angle plates, a resilient spring on the rod, leaf springs attached to the angle plates and extending rearwardly between the propellers, a transverse connecting spindle between the parallel shafts, hearings on the spindle to compensate for lateral movement of the ends of the parallel shafts, said leaf springs being connected to the said spindle and adapted to compensate for the movement of either of the propellers.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

GEORGE ALEXANDER WALKER. 

